Former India player Varun Aaron noted that Suryakumar Yadav was expected to score runs in the T20I final against South Africa. He stressed that the Indian captain’s confidence will be boosted if he has runs under his belt.
The final T20I of the five-match series between India and South Africa will be played in Ahmedabad on Friday, December 19. Suryakumar has scored 29 runs at a paltry average of 9.67 in three innings in the series so far.
During an interaction on the Featured sports On the show ‘Follow the Blues’, Aaron was asked what Suryakumar would focus on in the fifth T20I against South Africa.
“I think Suryakumar Yadav will focus on runs because he really needs some runs under his belt. If Suryakumar Yadav scores runs, there will be a huge change in confidence because runs have not come from his bat for a long time, and even Shubman Gill’s bat,” he replied.
The former Indian pacer added that the Men in Blue would become impregnable if Suryakumar and Shubman Gill scored runs.
“These two are key hitters in our setup when we talk about the T20 World Cup, and if they score runs, the Indian team will absolutely remain bulletproof,” observed Aaron.
Aaron felt that Suryakumar was not lacking in form, highlighting the Mumbai batter’s decent returns in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
“It’s not like Suryakumar Yadav is totally out of form. If you see his numbers on Mushtaq Ali, he had an average of 41 and a healthy strike rate. I think he is just an innings away from getting back into form,” he said.
Suryakumar Yadav scored 165 runs at an average of 41.25 and a strike rate of 139.83 in the five innings he played for Mumbai in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025-26.
“You know you are doing a lot of things right” – Varun Aaron on Suryakumar Yadav as captain ahead of IND vs SA 2025 5th T20I
![India have never lost a T20I series under Suryakumar Yadav (right) as skipper. [P/C: Getty]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2025/12/a0ea3-17661202291295-1920.jpg)
In the same interaction, Varun Aaron was asked about his thoughts on Suryakumar Yadav as skipper.
“If you have a winning record of 83% as captain, you know you are doing a lot of things right, especially after the retirement of two of your key players. The stalwarts of Indian cricket were no longer part of your T20 team and you have achieved these kinds of results,” he replied.
While acknowledging that Suryakumar had a good run with the bat, the cricketer-turned-commentator felt that the Indian skipper would deliver at an opportune time.
“It just shows that you have great cricketing sense and also have the confidence of the boys. Yes, Suryakumar Yadav is not scoring the runs we would like him to score, but I think he will be good at the right time,” observed Aaron.
Suryakumar Yadav has accumulated 2,783 runs at an average of 35.67 in 92 T20I innings. He totaled 743 runs at a much lower average of 23.96 in 34 T20I innings as captain.
Edited by Kartik Iyer
